Automatic egg roll machine



June 17, 1969 CHUNG-CHIN KAO 3,450,067

AUTOMATIC ROLL MACHINE Filed Feb. 3, 1967 Sheet June 17, 1969 CHUNGCHINKAO AUTOMATIC EGG ROLL MACHTNE Sheet of6 June 17, 1969 CHUNG-CHIN KAO3,450,067

AUTOMATIC EGG ROLL MACHINE Filed Feb. 5, 1967 Sheet 3 June 1969CHUNG-CHIN KAO AUTOMATIC EGG ROLL MACHINE Sheet Filed Feb. 1%?

June 17, 1969 CHUNG-CHIN KAO AUTOMATIC EGG ROLL MACHINE ore Sheet FiledFeb. 5, 19"? By Fuz M Z W'UPNEYS United States Patent 3,450,067AUTOMATIC EGG ROLL MACHINE Chung-Chin Kao, 102-40 67th Drive, ForestHills, N.Y. 11375 Filed Feb. 3, 1967, Ser. No. 613,942 Int. Cl. A21c9/04 US Cl. 107-1 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In an egg rollmaking machine, an upper curved conveyor cooperates with a lowerconveyor to turn and roll a partially formed egg roll into final shape.

This invention consists of a new machine which will make Chinese eggrolls automatically. It includes an improvement of my machine disclosedin my Japanese Patent No. 1594, published Feb. 5, 1966. Known in Chineserestaurants as egg rolls or spring-rolls, this Chinese food is consumedwidely in the Far East and in the US. Egg rolls are made of a filler ofone or two kinds of grated vegetables, ground bee-f, pork or shrimpinside a wrapping of a flattened dough. The finished egg roll iscylindrical in shape and both ends of the roll are folded inside thecylindrical wrapping. This is fried and served as hors doeuvres.

Egg rolls are made by hand at present and because of this the cost ishigh. The aim of this invention is to make egg rolls automatically andmechanically. This machine pursues the following processes in making eggrolls automatically.

A. By means of a press mechanism, flattened dough is made into arequired size and sent into the next section at the speed of about 2.5cm. per second.

B. Glucose liquid is applied to the surface of the dough. In themeantime, the dough is transferred into the next section.

C. When the dough reaches the prescribed spot beneath the ingredientscontainer, the movement of the dough is stopped for 3 seconds to addfiller ingredients into the flat dough for about 2.0 seconds. Both endsare then folded inside within one second. Roller conveyors then push thefolded egg roll into the fourth section.

D. Glucose liquid is applied to the top section of the folded egg rollonce more and then sent to the fifth section.

E. Folded egg roll is rolled so that it will be finished in seconds.

F. The push-out plates push out the finished egg roll.

Since this automatic egg roll making machine is designed to make 360 eggrolls per hour, it will save the egg roll makers time considerably.

A control mechanism feeds an equal amount of ingredients into each eggroll.

This machine will herewith be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1a shows the shape of an egg roll;

FIG. 1b shows the shape of a flattened dough for making an egg roll;

FIGS. 2a, 2b and 20 display various sections of the egg roll makingmachine. FIG. 2a shows the press machine section and FIGS. 2b and 20show the other sections of the egg roll making machine;

FIG. 3 shows the top surface view of the die;

FIG. 4 depicts the bottom surface view of the same die;

FIG. 5 shows the side surface cross-section of the die and the locationof the blades between the die and the die-set which is located at thebottom section of the die;

FIG. 6 is the die-set located at the bottom section of the die;

FIG. 7 shows the dough roller and the driving mechanism of the rollerconveyors which move the roller;

FIGS. 8 and 9 show the glucose liquid container equipped with operatingmechanism;

FIGS. 10 to 15 show the filler ingredients (vegetables, beef, porkshrimp) container structure and its controlling mechanism;

FIG. 16 displays a set of roller conveyors installed beneath theingredients container;

FIG. 17 shows the operating mechanism of the folding plates as indicatedin FIG. 2c;

FIG. 18 is an enlarged view of the final rolling mechanism;

FIG. 19 gives the time table for each process in making egg rolls by myautomatic egg roll making machine.

FIG. 1a shows the external view of an egg roll; FIG. 1b shows theflattened dough section which is about 0.8 mm. thick. FIGS. 2a, 2b and20 show the different sections of the egg roll making machine.

FIG. 2a shows the press equipped with dough roller. The job of thispress is to cut out a thin and flattened dough section in one movement.Since the dough sheet tears easily, the tensile force applied by thetransfer roller is reduced and the gears are driven so that they willstop the dough roller when the flattened dough section is being cut out.

1 in FIG. 2a is the roll of dough made from a standard dough-makingmachine. 2 is the axle for the dough roller. 3, 4, 5 and 6 are the twosets of roller conveyors which facilitate the transfer of the flatteneddough and safeguard the equipment during the cut-out. The movement speedof the above-mentioned dough sheet is about 2.5 cm. per second. 7 is thecut-out die and 8 is the bottom section of the die. 9 shows two push-outplates which push out the flattened dough outside of the die and gravitydrops the dough sheet. This dough sheet drops through the bottom sectionof the die. This bottom section of the die 8 is of the type which openson four sides to let out the cut-out dough. 11 is the waste-catchingbasket to catch the remains of the cut-out dough. 12 is the standardoperating mechanism and the cam is used to move once in a 10-secondperiod.

FIGS. 2b and 2c depict other sections of the egg roll making machine. Asalready shown in FIG. 2a, these sections are located at a right angle toand below the sections shown in FIG. 2a. 21 is the moving belt whichtransfers the severed dough section. The flattened dough 22 moves in thedirection of the arrow shown in the FIG. 2b to the next section belowthe first glucose liquid container 23. At this point, the glucose,liquid is applied on the surface of the severed dough. The flatteneddough is then moved to the next section. 24 is the ingredientscontainer. When the severed dough arrives below this spot, the rollerconveyors are stopped for 3 seconds to allow ingredients to feed intothe severed dough. As soon as this process is completed, folding plates26 rise to fold over the side edges of the dough. The roller conveyorsagain begin moving the long and slender unfinished egg roll. The foldeddough then passes under the second glucose container 25 where a secondapplication is made on the dough. The dough then goes into 28. 27 is thesecond roller conveyor. By means of this roller conveyor, thesemifinished egg roll is lifted up into 29 where rolling plates roll theegg roll. This process takes 5 seconds. Next, the rolling plates releasethe egg roll and the push-out rod 200 pushes out and down (as shown bythe arrow) into the tray 201. 203 shows two belt-driven pulleys. Thepulleys are used to stir glucose liquid inside the two glucosecontainers 25 and 23. Glucose liquid is stirred constantly since it willharden if left standing.

204 is the driving mechanism which drives the push-out plate 200. Thismechanism moves at the rate of 6 revolutions per minute. Egg roll,however, is pushed out every 10 seconds. 205 shows two guide rails ofthe conveyor. These help the moving dough to remain in proper position.

In FIG. 20, A is the conveyor belt which receives the severed doughpushed out from the section shown in FIG. 20. C is a set of rollerconveyors controlled and regulated so that they can be stopped for 3seconds. 26 shows two folding plates which fold the dough. B shows thespot where ingredients are dropped into the dough. F indicates the spotwhere the second coating of glucose liquid is applied to the top sectionof the dough sheet. Folded egg roll goes from G into the rolling plates29 to finish the above-mentioned rolling process.

Also scraper I in FIG. 20 cleans the surface of the roller conveyors.Its function is to remove glucose liquid remains from the belt surface.I is the belt dryer. 200 is the pushout plate operated by agear-controlled driving mechanism 204.

FIGS. 3 and 7 depict an open-type cut-out or stamp-out die for makingsevered dough. FIG. 3 shows the top surface of a die. 31 is the dieholder firmly attached to the punch shaft. 9 shows the push-out platesheld in position by pins 34 held retracted by springs 55.

FIG. 4 shows the bottom surface of a die. Blades 42 are located about3.2 mm. from the edges of the die.

FIG. 5 shows the side view of a die and the die bottom. 55 shows thesprings which restore the push-out plates into original positions aftereach push-out. 42 is the blade shown in FIG. 4.

The same figure also shows the cutting-out position located between thedie 7 and the die bottom. After the cutout, the bottom section of thedie expands, the upper section of the die is made to move downwardslightly, and if the dough does not readily drop through gravity, thedough is pushed out by means of the above-mentioned push-out plates 9.

FIG. 6 shows the entire bottom section of the die. It consists of foursections 61, 62, 63 and 64 and each of which has a retractable springholder R. This operation conforms to the general die operatingtechnique.

FIG. 7 shows the driving mechanism of the rollers and the conveyors.These move at the same speed and are operated so that the flatteneddough will not be pulled and stretched. 1 is the roll of dough roller. 3and 5 are a pair of feed rollers. 74 shows the spot where press-out isconducted. 75 is the cam which controls the movement of roll of thedough and a pair of feed rollers. 76 is the gear train from 75 to thedriving motor.

FIGS. 8 and 9 give the operating mechanism and glucose liquid containers23 and 25. As shown in FIG. 2b, the glucose containers located in frontof and in back of the ingredients container. Each operates 6 secondsduring a 10-second interval. Since glucose liquid is then and readilydis-persible, small holes are sufiicient even though the dispersiontakes a long period of time. To be more specific, the first glucoseliquid container 23 disperses glucose liquid to the area which is aboutcm. x 15 cm., and the second container, to the area which is about 7.5cm. x 15 cm.

In FIG. 8, 23 is the glucose liquid container shown in FIG. 2b, 82 showsthe holes at the bottom of the container, 83 is the front end of thecover which covers the holes 82 to keep the liquid inside the containerbefore operation. This cover is fixed inside the container. 84 shows apair of nuts which hold the cover and help to open or close the holes.

FIG. 8 also shows an agitating mechanism 85, 86, 87 and 203 whichconstantly keeps the glucose mixture stirred up to prevent itshardening. This mechanism is operated by a belt connected to the drivingmechanism.

91 in FIG. 9 shows that the bottom of the glucose liquid container isequipped with automatic cover.

Since the holes at the bottom of the container are very small, thiscover is required to scrape off excessive liquid from the bottom side sothat the liquid will flow out more easily. This cover can be easilycontrolled by the cam 94.

In FIG. 9, 91 shows a pair of bottom cover arms. The above-mentionedagitating mechanism installed in a support frame of the container can beremoved without affecting the driving mechanism. The two earns 94 aredriven by motive power mechanism through the linkages 97. 95 shows twosprings which support the cover 91 in an immobile position by means ofstop pins 96. In both positions, the glucose liquid container operates 6seconds during a 10-second cycle.

FIGS. 10 to 15 show the ingredients feeding mechanism. The ingredientscontainer 24 feeds the ingredients into the dough and also is controlledso that it can feed an equal amount of ingredients into each egg roll.For this purpose, the ingredients container 24 is equipped with afour-sided cage 131, a small ingredients container 121, and a pair ofcover plates. The right amount of ingredients is placed inside the smallcontainer 121. While this amount of ingredients is being put into thedough, the ingredients from the main container will drop into the smallcontainer at the same time.

In FIG. 10, 101 has the openings at the bottom just like the mainingredients container. This container is attached to a frame, and aswill be described later, it is isolated from the driving mechanism. Itcan therefore be readily removed without inflicting any damage to thedriving mechanism.

FIG. 11 shows the main ingredients container 101, and 112 and 113 arethe covers to cover the container openings 102. The movement of thehandles 114 and 115 manually will open or close the covers. The downwardpush of the handles will close the covers 112 and 113. Covers can alsobe closed with the tightening of the screws 118 and 119 against theposts 116 and 117. Ohviously, the cover plates remain closed when thecontainer is being prepared to dish out the ingredients.

For the purpose of operation, if the container is installed into theequipment, the two cover plates 112 and 113 will be left open and thesmall automatic system container 121 will be operated.

FIG. 12 shows that the container 121 is situated below the maincontainer 101 by means of a pair of butterfly plates 126 and 127. Thetwo plates revolve upward at a distance of 10 degree distance from eachother. During operation, the right amount of ingredients is kept insidethe small container. When the ingredients are to be fed into the dough,the two plates 126 and 127 will revolve to open the bottom section sothat the ingredients from the small conainer will drop down into thefront end of the dough. The dropping down of the ingredients is thenstopped. Each of the plates 126 and 127 revolves downward and receivesingredients from the cage 131. In this way, an equal amount ofingredients is fed into each egg roll.

FIG. 13 shows the cage 131 located between the main cotnainer 101 andthe small container 121. This cage works as a part of the smallcontainer.

FIG. 14 indicates the method of controlling the two movable plates 126and 127 of the small container 121. As shown in the drawings, the twoplates move in opposite direction from each other. This necessitates twodriving mechanisms 143 and 144 to drive the two plates.

With the containers thin axle 142 on the inside and thick axle 141 onthe outside, each of the two plates is operated independently by thedriving mechanism coaxially as shown by the arrows in the drawing. Theplates, axles, etc., are located outside of the small container andindependent from it.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the working mechanism of the twoingredients feeding plates 126 and 127 and one side of the two movableplates driven by two gears 152 and 153. The two gears are driven by arevolving gear 154 which is located above a horizontally moving gear 155which, in turn, is situated above a gearshaft 157. The horizontallymoving gear 155 moves above a square shaft S and slides forward andbackward during operation.

Cam 158 engages gear teeth 156 in the shaft 157 to drive shaft 157forward and opens the plates to feed the ingredients onto the dough.

When the shaft gear 156 reaches the stopped position of the cam 158, twosprings 159 pull the shaft 157 backward and shut the door 126immediately. This door should be closed as rapidly as possible toprevent the redropping of the ingredients while the initial ingredientsare being dropped from the main container into the small container.

FIG. 16 shows a series of conveyor rollers C, FIG. 20, which constitutethe second roller conveyor 27, and which are located beneath theingredients container. These rollers 163 to 167 are drivenintermittently by gear 162 which is meshed with drive gear 169. Theconveyors move the dough and stop during the ingredients feeding andfolding processes. The conveyor rollers start moving again after doughis folded into a thin and long shape to push the semifinished egg rollinto the next section.

FIG. 17 shows the working mechanism of the folding plates 26 as shown inFIGS. 2b and 2c. The operational mechanism is same as theabove-mentioned small container plates. However, since the drivinglength of each of the two folding plates 26 is about cm., they must belocated in the center and beneath the ingredients container.

Similar operational mechanism is used to operate the rolling plate 29which is shown in FIG. 20.

The rolling plate 29 is located at the extreme end of the conveyors. Therolling process starts when the folded egg rolls extreme front endreaches the top end of the rolling plate by means of a continuousmovement of the conveyor.

As soon as the rolling plate 29 starts moving, the top end of thesemifinished egg noll is folded after passing the ingredients feedingsection. The conveyor belt continues its movement and glucose liquid isapplied at the front end of the egg roll and the belt keeps on movinguntil egg roll rolling is completed. This rolling process consumes 5seconds.

The operational mechanism 204 of the push-out plate 200 and the controlmechanism of the cleaning devices I and J are the same as those usedhitherto in other machinery.

In the improved roller mechanism of FIG. 18, the conveyor 28 is composedof a frame having a vertical leg 300 and a slightly concaved horizontalportion 302. Elongated rollers 304 are mounted in horizontal portion302. These rollers are connected by a chain, for example, and rotated bybeing driven by a belt 306 connected to a suitable power source. Thefname 300 is lifted and lowered by a cam system 308 connected to a driveshaft 310.

Rolling plate 29 is composed of a curved frame 320 which holds aplurality of elongated rollers 322. These rollers are rotated by a belt324 which in turn is driven by a train of belts 326 and 328 connectedtogether and joined to a suitable power source. Rolling plate 29 islifted and lowered by a cam system 330 mounted on shaft 310.

In operation, horizontal portion 302 is initially at the same level asconveyor 27. The partially formed egg roll slides from conveyor 27 ontorollers 304. Portion 302 immediately rises and plate 29 moves down. Theegg roll is moved by rollers 304 so that its leading edge strikes frame320 and is curled upwardly into contact with rollers 322. The combineddriving force of rollers 304 and 322 thus causes the egg roll to rotateand turn over and be rolled into final shape. Plate 29 then rises andconveyor 28 drops to release the egg roll so that rollers 304 again,advance the egg roll, and the completed egg roll is discharged intochute 334.

FIG. 19 shows the time table for each process in making egg rol-ls bymeans of the automatic egg roll making machine. The figure divides eachprocess into a 10-seoond cycle. This machine therefore can make 360 eggrolls per hour at the standard speed.

Since the time required for each process is controlled, since each platehas similar operational mechanism, since the component parts of themachine operate through linkage with an ordinary motor, and sincemechanical trouble is minimal, the automatic egg roll making machinebased on this invention will help cut down the manufacturing cost.

Moreover, because of the machines high speed, it cuts down labor cost.By this process, the size of each egg roll will be the same and from thehealth viewpoint, this way of making the egg rolls is highly desirable.

Having now described the means by which the objects of the invention areobtained, I claim:

1. An egg roll rolling device for an egg roll machine comprising lowerconveyor means for receiving and advancing a partially formed egg roll,upper conveyor means curved toward said lower conveyor means forcooperating with said lower conveyor means to turn and roll thepartially formed egg roll therebetween to form the egg roll into finalshape, means for lifting and lowering said upper conveyor means, andmeans for lifting and lowering said lower conveyor means.

2. An egg roll rolling device for an egg roll machine comprising lowerslightly concave conveyor means for receiving and advancing a partiallyformed egg roll, and upper conveyor means curved toward said lowerconveyor means for cooperating with said lower conveyor means to turnand roll the partially formed egg roll therebetween to form the egg rollinto final shape.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,397,981 11/1921 Peters 107-12,207,795 7/1940 Grimm. 2,437,202 3/ 1948 Marino 107-69 2,627,825 2/ 3Stiles.

WALTER A. SCHEEL, Primary Examiner. JOSEPH SHEA, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 1079

